Fast-a-Meal Guide to Prayer

We have created this Guide to Prayer to help you as you pray through Lent with Scripture, a weekly prayer focus, and ways to take these lessons deeper. We hope you will use this Guide in conjunction with a time of fasting—intentionally skipping a meal (or, if you cannot miss a meal for health reasons, “giving up” part of your regular diet)—and making time to focus on Christ in prayer. We also encourage you to send the money you would have spent on those meals (or on that part of your food budget) to Restore Hope—so that we might share God’s blessings with families in need.

Week of Ash Wednesday (February 14-17)

Did you know? A person making minimum wage in Tulsa needs to work 79 hours in order to afford renting a 2-bedroom apartment. Many of the families Restore Hope helps with rent assistance face eviction simply because hours were cut back or missed due to sickness (or to care for a family member who is ill).

First Week in Lent (February 18-24)

Did you know? More than 1 in 4 Oklahoma children rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). The average benefit is less than $1.40 per meal. When those benefits run out, food pantries like Restore Hope are the only place many families can turn to for help.

Second Week in Lent (February 25-March 3)

Did you know? More than 654,640 Oklahomans are “food insecure,” which means they don’t have consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle. Think about how you feel when you are hungry and pray for the food insecure neighbors Restore Hope helps every week.

Third Week in Lent (March 4-10)

Did you know? Oklahoma saw a 24% increase in homeless families with children in 2017 compared with 2016, the 3rd highest increase in the United States. Without Restore Hope’s Homeless Prevention Initiative which keeps hundreds of families in their homes, this number would be even higher.

Fourth Week in Lent (March 11-17)

Did you know? Oklahoma’s per pupil funding for public schools has fallen 26.9 percent after inflation between 2008 and 2017, the deepest cuts of any state in the country, and the margin is widening. Each year Restore Hope helps thousands of students with school supplies and often helps teachers with much-needed food.

Fifth Week in Lent (March 18-24)

Did you know? The poverty rate for Oklahomans under the age of 18 has risen from 20 to 24 percent, between 1969 and 2014. For children under 5, the current rate is 31 percent. Last year 53 percent of the individuals helped by Restore Hope were under the age of 18.

Holy Week (March 25-31)

Did you know? Oklahoma has the nation’s third-highest rate of people working at or below the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Even full-time at that salary, families need help from places like Restore Hope to meet the most basic needs.